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Colorado

Economic Impact of National Parks

September 2022

Millions of national park visitors generate economic opportunities for gateway communities, spending money that creates jobs and income. See the trends for every national park service unit.

Tension as Catalyst: Public Lands and the Rural West

March 2020

Aerial view of rural town in Montana. (Martinsdale, MT)

View a presentation given at the Our America’s Rural Opportunity forum about the context of public lands and the rural west.

Building for Wildfire Summit: Understanding How Homes Burn

November 2019

Video and highlights from an event that brought together diverse community leaders to explore practices for building fire-adapted communities.

Newsletter: September 2019

September 2019

Our latest newsletter contains research on transit equity analysis for Denver, CO, funding needs for Montana’s outdoors, a custom socioeconomic tool for the US Fish &amp Wildlife Service, and more. Subscribe to our newsletter.

Denver Transit Equity Analysis

August 2019

Identify where potential bus rapid transit corridors in the Denver, Colorado Metro Area are most likely to enhance mobility and equity.

Association Between User-Generated Commuting Data and Population-Representative Active Commuting Surveillance Data—Four Cities, 2014-2015

April 2019

One of the primary concerns about data from GPS tracking apps is that the users tend to be more frequent recreators or commuters and therefore do not accurately represent the actual population. This paper shows that there is a strong correlation between the reported share of people in a neighborhood commuting by active transportation between the American Community Survey (a nationally representative survey) and Strava (a GPS tracking app).

Coal Transition in Montrose County, Colorado

February 2019

Headwaters-staff-Mark-Haggerty

New fiscal and policy assessments help local leaders understand their exposure to declining revenue and policy barriers during a coal transition.

San Luis Valley Wildfire Risk

September 2018

Explore interactive maps of watersheds, wildfire, and the wildland-urban interface in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.

Wildfire, Watersheds, and the Wildland-Urban Interface in the San Luis Valley

September 2018

Partners in Colorado’s San Luis Valley are working to better understand the impacts of wildfire to communities, watersheds, and quality of life.

Comparing Trends and Prosperity in Gunnison County

April 2017

Explore socioeconomic trends in Gunnison County and neighboring Colorado counties.

Measuring Prosperity in Gunnison County, Colorado

February 2017

This tool explores socioeconomic trends in Gunnison County, Colorado and compares them to neighboring counties and the state of Colorado.

Bicycling and Walking in Colorado: Economic Impact and Household Survey Results

March 2015

This study found that bicycle tourism draws summertime tourists to Colorado ski areas who would not have come otherwise, many of whom come from out-of-state and generate valuable economic impact. State-wide, residents are most concerned about the safety of cycling and strongly support spending on improvements such as new paved off-street bike paths and linking paths to create a statewide system.

Colorado Lags Other States in Taxing Oil, Incentives Increase Volatility

February 2014

Colorado

This report compares how Colorado provides local governments with production tax revenue from unconventional fossil fuel extraction compared to other major energy-producing states.

West Is Best: Protected Lands Promote Colorado Jobs and Higher Incomes

November 2012

Map of state outline: Colorado

Colorado’s rate of population, employment, and real personal income growth has outpaced the nation and this fact sheet looks at the role of protected public lands in supporting jobs and higher incomes.

Report: Colorado’s Oil and Natural Gas Industry

June 2012

drilling rig

This graphical analysis reviews the status of Colorado’s oil and gas industry including production, drilling activity, tax policy, its role in Colorado’s economy.

Unconventional Oil and North Dakota Communities: State Fiscal Policy Unprepared for Impacts of Energy Development

April 2012

drilling rig

This report analyzes the growing infrastructure and services needs of the Bakken boom and meeting the demands of unconventional energy development.

Colorado’s Economy and the Role of Federal Protected Lands

April 2012

scenic view of wild basin thunder lake

This report summarizes Colorado’s economy and the role of federal protected lands, including how the state has performed, and Colorado’s ability to attract people, investment, and businesses.

County Level Drilling Activity, 2001-2011

February 2012

Image of rig count interactive

This report focuses on county-level details of drilling rig activity for the period 2001 to 2011 in the six Rocky Mountain oil and gas states of Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Fossil Fuel Extraction and Western Economies

April 2011

Rig Worker in Western Colorado

This study analyzes the fossil fuel economy in five Rocky Mountain states—CO, MT, NM, UT, and WY—and how states and communities can maximize benefits and minimize the costs of energy development.

Clean Energy Leadership in the Rockies: Competitive Positioning in the Emerging Green Economy

June 2010

The Clean Energy report compares how Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming are taking advantage of clean energy and energy efficiency opportunities to create green jobs.

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